The Elephant British Pub

AKA The Ele, The ‘Phant, and That British Place With The Great/​Awful Band (depending on the night you attend!) Tucked away off Rundle Street on Cinema Place is this warm and inviting British Style Pub. Frequented by uni pubcrawlers and the after-​work crowd in equal measure, it is a great place for a beer and a chat on a night out. Bands upstairs are upbeat and loud, and the two bigscreens will be showing some sport event if that is your thing. Drinks are reasonably priced — though the Ele is more Guiness than cocktails, the bartenders are willing to whip up something tasty if approached on a good day. Food is also nicely affordable, warm and homely. On my last visit I had the Ele Burger — huge but tasty with all the trimmings — and my partner enjoyed a very delicious Bangers and Mash with rich onion gravy. Bring back the cauliflower Mac and Cheese on the menu last year — it was divine!

We arrived on a busy night, 3 adults and 1 toddler. Friendly place. Alas it took — I kid you not — 40 minutes for our prepaid (at the bar) food to come out. We had to ask about it several times. Very frustrating. We will not be back.

These guys always have an excellent selection on tap. They also have potato chips and nuts available at the bar so you have snacks after the kitchen is closed. This is important to have available while drinking.
It’s a popular pub crawl destination as they will give excellent drink specials.

A well stocked bar of UK and European beverages + solid pub eats makes The Elephant a pub worth a visit.
I like to come here before or after a movie at the nearby Palace Nova cinemas.
If you are wanting a quiet and relaxed pub atmosphere, avoid this place on Friday and Saturday nights. It’s a popular pub crawl stop for uni students! (Good memories! :))
Customer service is average, but given the reasonable prices and quality pub grub (only $ 10.90 at lunch time!) I’m willing to overlook it,

Great food and service. Shame about the loud yahoo’s that come in and spoil everyone else’s evening! Menu full of tempting suggestions. Would go back.

Been here several times.
Beers are cold, staff friendly and food quite fit for a pub.
Had fish and chips a couple of times. Really nice and flavorful paired with a refreshing salad.
Bands have gigs upstairs on weekends although I haven’t experienced them yet.

Good for drinks and food. Have drank here often and price’s are reasonable. Can get busy and packed especially if you want a seat and have to walk up stair’s to the toilets so not good if you have had a few drinks.

I used to work across the road from the Elephant and so it became the usual spot for Friday night drinks and occasional workday lunches.
The food is ok, and has actually gotten a lot better over the years, with more options for those of us who are meat-​free. The drinks are reasonably priced and there is always a Friday night happy hour; if you work at the RAH and can show your id badge you can get a discount, too. You’ll need to get there pretty early on a Friday arvo to claim a spot for a decent sized group, but it really is a fantastic place to gather and kick off the weekend with a relaxed atmosphere and buzzing crowd!
The staff are half and half– there is this one blue-​eyed bearded guy with a baby face in the downstairs bar who is fantastic and helpful, but most of the others aren’t really interested in giving great service– maybe because they are so often descended upon by rowdy pub crawls? Anyway, the staff aren’t terrible, but nothing to call home about either.
The décor is classic British pub– dark with lots of wood and beer-​themed decorations, a few booths, some couches and tables and a «games» area complete with dart board, Big Buck Hunter and a big overturned barrel and stools. As others have mentioned, there is a small but functional area outside for smokers.
Upstairs goes off on weekends and is a great place for a casual dance with generally good live bands. If you are tipsy and ready to let loose on the dance floor with a big group of unpretentious people who are out for a good time, you’ll love the Elephant. If you are looking for a great place to gather for drinks with your friends, you’ll love the Elephant too. There’s something for everyone.

Any pub with Big Buck Hunter is in my good books.
This place has a great out door area, one of my favourite in Adelaide.
Surrounded by glass perspex and filled with large wooden tables, it’s great to hang outside have a few drinks with friends.
The staff are relatively friendly, I accidentally left a full pack of cigarettes outside once, and after querying 2 staff members and being shrugged off, I eventually found the staff member who picked them up off the table. He looked a little disappointed that I had asked about them, maybe he thought he had scored a free pack. Fair enough, I would to: P But he kindly returned them and I gave him a few as a finders fee.
The Elephant is spread over two floors, the bottom floor being more of pub/“chill out” area, the upstairs area is definitely a party/​club area, they often have live bands and supposed «DJs» up there.

Yeah yeah. travelers and all that, it’s a really eclectic crowd to be honest.
I came here one Saturday evening wearing dress thongs and a cocktail dress (sounds strange but it worked) and one of the bouncers tried to block my entry, luckily the other bouncer slapped him across the back of the head and held the door open for me. whats so dangerous about flippety flops that isnt dangerous about 5 inch heels?
Anyway, it’s ok here, upstairs has a little section where you can dance, I like to do several shots before I try to dance, I suggest everyone does the same. be warned though, there are stairs to tackle at the end of your night as well as the idiots who try to dance up behind you.
Imperial pints!

Locals, if you’re looking for some foreign flavour this is the place for you! Backpackers hang at the Elephant! Young tanned, foreign-​tongued tourists looking for a good time and fun locals to party with!
You can not only dance drink and be merry here, but dance drink and be merry with a sexy Brazilian, or Venezuelan. And I don’t mean this in a sleazy way, I just mean, travellers are fun. I wish the outside area was bigger here but what can you do? They take care of the punters but not the smokers and people who want fresh air really need to battle for a spot. The drinks here are pretty cheap and you can go upstairs and dance and have a laugh and there’s zero pretension in this pub. Just good old fashioned mates and greats.

Classic pub grub (or prub gub) that is hidden in the middle of North Tce and Rundle. Full English breakfasts, roasts, chargrilled pork with a fresh array of veggies and mash.
As a nightspot it’s quite popular with the Rundle crowd and seems to be at odds with the Exeter.
Word of advice, when your friend goes to the bathroom from the couch area don’t be a joker like me and try to hide inside the wooden chests. You might get kicked out.

I swear I must have a bit of Irish blood in me, because every time I see Guiness on tap I get excited. Fortunately the Elephant offers both Guiness and Kilkenny on tap; two excellent dark ales that make very fitting beverages to the ‘ye old pub’ theme.
I’ve consistently had a great time with each visit to the Elephant. Upstairs regularly features some very talented live cover bands, and it can get very hot, sweaty and loud up there. On the flip side, the downstairs booth seating and small outdoor area offer a relaxing environment to have a chat with friends — although conversations at the Elephant are rarely quiet and usually escalate into yelling competitions pretty quickly!
If only the outdoor area was a little bigger, this place would have it all. Going outside for a smoke feels like being squeezed into an animal cage, and there’s usually no point unless you wait for people to come back inside — IF they come back inside.
But like I mentioned earlier — as long as there is Guiness on tap, I’m a happy man.

Adelaide’s favourite British-​themed pub. The British-​theme is great, of course, but the best thing about the pub is its duality.
It has the upstairs area for dancing, yelling in the ear of a pretty girl, and pretending to hear and believe the crap spouted from the mouth of a pretty boy. The music’s always good and mixes it up between talented live bands (my friends and I spent one evening trying very determinedly to figure out if the people playing the song were the actual band who wrote it) and recorded tracks, and recent tunes and classics from yesteryear.
And for those who don’t want to shake it, or have been shuffling every day and just need a moment to sit down and get away from the deafening music, there’s the downstairs area — one of my favourite places to hang out on a Saturday night. There are always seats available outside, but if it’s a cold night and you want to keep warm inside, it can be hard to find a seat indoors, but that’s because when you’ve got one, you don’t want to let go of it. You’re having too splendid a time.

Another fine pub that serve up Imperial size pints, and an occasionally a great story if you get chatting to the right people.
There’s an upstairs balcony, and a sectioned off seating/​smoking section out the front. Upstairs you will find live bands on the weekends, and both levels have sectioned off booths.
There’s really not much to hate about this pub. My only advice is: Be careful going down the 2 flights of stairs (especially if you are pissed).

I have only ever been to The Elephant after dark, and so I can only solely comment on the nightlife.
Last time I went here, I actually had so much fun. You really need to be in the right mood though. I feel that for once in a blue moon, the Elephant is a refreshing place to visit on a Saturday night because it is so not pretentious.
Upstairs the live band were singing all the top radio played songs, and did a great job of getting the crowd dancing. Unfortunately I think everyone (including myself) thought they might have had the vocal capacity of Adele when ‘Rolling In The Deep’ was belted out across the room.
The Elephant also serves as a pretty popular scene for pub crawls and so things can get a bit messy/​trashy, not to mention sticky and gross on the dance floor. My friends and I kept getting cornered by intoxicated patrons. Ew. Like I said, you really got to be in the right mood to have a good time and also have a bit of a dance.
Downstairs things are a little different and it is a lot tamer. It is a good spot to detox or catch your breath when upstairs gets a bit too much. There is also an outdoor setting for some fresh air.
If all else fails, The Elephant is only a one-​minute walk from Rundle Street and so the night lives on.

The Elephant is a Tudor looking pub in the East End of Adelaide, hidden off Rundle Street towards North Terrace. It’s fairly big though, you can’t miss it.
I’ve always started my night here because it is one of the first bus stops coming from my direction into town, we often use it as a toilet stop but end up staying for drinks and a dance. I’ve also been here many times of pub crawls because they do some good drink specials and have a quietish upstairs area.
The bottom has plenty of seating with couches, stools, tables and chairs. Then outside is a semi-​closed in seating area that is used a lot in the day because it gets a lot of the sun.
The DJ usually starts upstairs around 10 with some drink specials going on.
Not the hippest place in town, but a good starter.